A blog named for specious reasoning in interpreting the Scriptures ("Well, Leviticus says you can't eat shellfish..."). We've sought to help the good folk of the ELCA and her closest partners to be not deceived by the Confusionists (for whom the clear window of Scriptures, Creed, and Confessions is but a dim mirror) at the helm.

Saturday, August 04, 2007

That's One Big Closet!

That’s one big closet: More than 80 ministers to come outBy Eileen Flynn Friday, August 3, 2007, 05:30 PMAre you serious, I thought when I heard the voice mail. More than 80 Lutheran ministers will go public with their homosexual identity next week? Mind you, these clergy members serve a comparatively liberal branch of Lutheranism, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.But still, many of those coming out on Tuesday are in homosexual relationships, and the ELCA restricts ordination to heterosexuals who are faithful in marriage or celibate homosexuals. As it happens, the ELCA will be debating the issue of dropping the celibacy requirement for gay ministers at its biennial assembly next week in Chicago.I got the phone message about next week’s press conference from a fellow with Lutherans Concerned/North America, a group that supports people of “all sexual orientations and gender identities.”Now again, this is the liberal Lutheran denomination — not the Missouri Synod, which takes a much harsher stance on homosexuality. But still, the ELCA, like most mainline Protestant churches, does have a celibacy rule. And if church leaders don’t change that policy at this convention, aren’t these folks putting their collars on the line?This is the current sexual conduct policy for ELCA ministers:Married ordained ministers are expected to live in fidelity to their spouses, giving expression to sexual intimacy within a marriage relationship that is mutual, chaste, and faithful. Ordained ministers who are homosexual in their self-understanding are expected to abstain from homosexual sexual relationships.Read a little background on the debate in this Chicago Sun Times story. And here in the Tribune.